


Sir, That's My Emotional Support Sibling

by wickedwitchcraft



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Other, Panic Attacks, Protective Siblings, siblings being siblings, talk of klaus not being afraid to die, this one isnt too sad i dont think guys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-12
Updated: 2019-03-12
Packaged: 2019-11-16 01:34:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,968
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18084887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wickedwitchcraft/pseuds/wickedwitchcraft
Summary: They survived the apocalypse, now they have to survive each other. Luckily, Klaus is pretty good at surviving.





	Sir, That's My Emotional Support Sibling

They’d been in the past for…a few weeks now. Five had found them a safe place to stay. No one asked where or how he’d found it. They were working on their trust. Or maybe no one really wanted to _know_ how he’d found it, or gotten it. Either way they had a place to lay low while they figured out what exactly they were going to do now.

All Vanya knew was the she wasn’t locked up anymore. She wasn’t sure if it was because the house they were staying in didn’t have a sound proof room, or if was because of the yelling she’d heard after they’d first gotten here. She’d gone up stairs to take a shower, they always calmed her. She’d turned the water off and heard their voices echoing off the walls and carrying up to her.

She didn’t try to be quiet on her way down. She was tired of tip toing around everyone, had been doing that her whole life. She was done with that. She was one of them and she decided she was going to act like it. No more sneaking around. She was going to walk around like she owned the place, like she belonged there. Because, in both respects, she sort of did.

The last voice she heard before she walked in was Klaus’.

“I swear to god Luther!” his face was red when she came around the corner and walked through the doorway. There was a vain in his neck that she’d only seen once before, maybe twice. He looked like he was about to punch Luther in the face. Diego looked about the same, standing beside him, but he covered it better when Vanya walked in. Klaus saw her, took a deep breath and turned away from her. She watched him take another breath, wipe his hand down over his face, and walk off. Vanya smiled to herself. He was always so careful about trying not to genuinely upset people. He could be an ass, sure, but he didn’t like hurting people.

“Are we talking about locking me up again?” She made sure her voice was calm. She didn’t want them to think she was going to explode on them. Even if her insides were roiling with emotions, but she could feel them now, and she could tell when it was her power and when it was her. She smiled and shoved the feelings down a bit. Further away from the surface.

“No.” Klaus answered, a split second later.

“Absolutely not.” His voice was cold, but he wasn’t looking at Vanya, he was looking at Luther. His eyes the coldest Vanya ever remembered seeing them. He turned to her and his whole being softened. He swallowed hard and began walking toward her.

“That’s never happening again.” His eyes were tearing up now, his lip quivering. Vanya opened her arms a bit and he dashed into them.

“I’m so sorry. Are you okay? How are you feeling?” he breathed into her shoulder, the words mumbled against her shirt. His arms wrapped around her in a vice grip. She held onto him tightly and looked up to see Diego smiling at her. She smiled back.

“I’m okay. I think I’m feeling better.” She rubbed his back between his shoulders and smiled at him when he pulled back and smiled at her, sniffling but looking happy.

“Ben says hi.” She blinked in confusion and then the memory slammed into her.

“You channeled Ben.”

“Yeah.”

“He was like, here _here_!” she felt the excitement in her and saw the chandelier above them begin to sway. The excitement turned to fear and she pulled away from Klaus, or at least, she tried to. He wouldn’t let go of her. His fingers wrapped around her arms where he’d rested them after their hug. He held her tight and pulled her a bit closer. She struggled, not wanting to hurt him. The lights grew brighter as the fear grew inside her.

“Let it happen. Don’t fight it. It’s a part of who you are.” Klaus’ voice was soft.

“Are you kidding me Klaus?” Luther’s voice was not soft, it was a whisper, but it wasn’t soft. The lightbulb behind him burst. Klaus’ hands moved from Vanya’s arms to her face.

“Hey. Shhh…it’s okay. I’m not afraid of you. You shouldn’t have to be afraid either. Just let the feeling happen. Feel the emotion. And then let it go. Don’t focus on it. Just _feel_ it.” Klaus’ thumb moved against her cheek, soothing. She focused on how that made her feel. She didn’t want to feel the fear. She thought maybe focusing on how Klaus was making her feel was safer. She took a deep breath, let herself feel the comfort he was giving her, and then felt the surging emotions calm. The lights dimmed back down, the chandelier stopped swaying, she opened her eyes, and saw Klaus smiling at her.

“How spectacular are you?” he laughed, pulling her into another hug. She laugh/cried into his shoulder. It hadn’t felt the same as when Leonard, or Harold, or whoever he was, had given her complements. It was different. It felt more there, more real. And she realized then that she’d believed Allison all along.

She’d known, at least deep down, that he wasn’t who he said he was. Her eyes found her sister and she felt more tears. She pulled gently away from Klaus and went to Allison. Allison pulled her close. The lights grew bright and then ebbed away again as Allison held her through her sobbed apologies. When she calmed a bit, they went into the kitchen and found some food. The five of them eating and laughing together, like they had when they were kids and dad wasn’t home. Luther was nowhere to be seen.

~***~

They were getting along better than Vanya ever remembered from when they were kids. Her and Klaus had both been practicing their powers. It turned out that summoning Ben fully had, so far, been a one-time thing. They were out in the back yard, in the woods really, the house Five had found them was out in the middle of nowhere, but still somehow so unlike the place she’d gone with Leonard. Both of them trying their best to work on their powers. Klaus made a weird strangled noise, yelled something unintelligible, and threw a stick.

“This is ridiculous! This is never gonna work! Are you even trying to be corporeal or is this completely one sided? Cuz I know how it’s feeling and I’ll tell you what it doesn’t feel like you’re trying at all!” Klaus was flailing his arms and yelling at the empty space next him. Vanya laughed and he looked at her.

“Ben?”

“Yes.” He said, venom in his voice. He looked back to the empty space.

“She can’t even see you and she knows it’s you cuz you’re being an ass- don’t make that face at me!” he gasped and turned to look at Vanya, exasperation written all over his face. She smiled again and shook her head. She pushed herself up off the log she’d been sitting on and walked over to him.

“Maybe your power is connected to your emotions too. What were you feeling at the theater when you summoned him last time?” she put her hand on his shoulder, trying to respond to him with the kind of affection that he gave to everyone else. She read somewhere that people reach out in the ways they wished people would reach out to them. She thought maybe there was something to that when he relaxed under her touch and shook himself, like he was trying to relax and clear his head.

“I uh… I was scared. I though we were all gonna die. I didn’t wanna get shot. And ya know I don’t really have a good way to replicate that emotion without delving into some heavy emotional shit and I’m not really in the mood for that right now so maybe we could work on your power for a little while?” he drooped and looked at her, looking more like a puppy the bigger his eyes got. She stared at him, trying to break his sad composure. His eyes just kept getting wider and wider until she sighed and gave up.

“Fine.” He did a weird little dance and ran over to the log where she’d been sitting.

“Okay perfect, let’s see, where did we leave off last time? Oh right you almost crushed me with a tree! That was a fun time! So I’m thinking maybe this time, a little less anger maybe a bit more excitement?” he crossed his legs and looked at her, his fingers drumming on his chin. She watched him for a moment and then burst out laughing.

“What is this? Why the laughing?” he waved his hand at her.

“You’re ridiculous.” She shook her head at him.

“Ah, true. But it made you smile so I think it’s working.” He held up his finger.

“Touché.” She said, giving him a little mock bow.

“Fancy. I like it. Now back to your training number 7.” His best mocking dad voice making her smile again.

“I’m seriously thinking that your power is gonna be a lot like baking.” He was rubbing at his chin seriously now.

“Baking?” she drummed her fingers on her thigh and looked at him.

“Yeah. We’re gonna have to find like, the exact right emotions to mix together to get it to work or the whole thing goes caput. So, think of it like a baking show, were you have to do everything exactly right, or the whole world explodes.” He said flatly.

“No pressure then.”

He smiled at her.

~*~*~

They’d been practicing for about half and hour when Luther came out to see them.

“I see Klaus is already “resting” from his training.” He walked down the steps on the porch and crossed his arms. Vanya felt something boiling up inside her. She let it pass through like Klaus had coached her to do, the leaves above her rattling and then settling gently.

“He worked really hard on it for almost an hour and half. He deserves a break when he wants one.” She hadn’t really been getting very good at speaking up for herself yet. It was hard breaking the habit of being invisible. But she was finding that sticking up for others was easier.

“I’m just saying, without practice it’s not gonna get easier.” He shrugged, dismissing his disdain and treating it like it was nothing.

“Yeah well maybe, if he’d had support before, it’d be easier now. So instead of coming out here and telling him what he’s doing wrong, maybe you should ask if there’s anything you can do to help him figure out how to do it right?” her hands were clenched at her sides but the leaves above her remained still.

“I was just saying-“

“I know what you were saying. And frankly, I’m tired of hearing what you have to say. When all you have to say to him are things that make him feel like he’s not good enough. Just because he coped with his powers in a way you don’t approve of, until you want to be numb yourself, doesn’t mean that you can treat him like he’s useless.” She stared at him, waiting for him to respond, he dropped his hands to his sides but stayed silent.

“So if you don’t have anything constructive or helpful to say, maybe you should just go back inside.” She crossed her arms over her chest and watched him open and close his mouth before turning and going back inside. He left the door open as he stomped through it. Vanya lifted her hand, flicked it, and watched as a small wave of energy floated toward it and closed it. It didn’t slam. It didn’t shatter. It just…closed.

She took a deep breath. He legs were shaking. She looked at Klaus, he was sitting on the log, his eyes moving from Vanya, to the door, and back again. Seconds later he was on his feet, yelling in excitement and running to her. He picked her up and spun her in circles.

“That was amazing!” he set her down and looked at her, his hands on her shoulders.

“You did it! And you told Luther off! You are so. Cool.” He laughed. And Vanya laughed because Klaus’ laugh is contagious and then she gasped when she saw him.

“Klaus.”

“Yeah?” he was still laughing, but it was fading now, the look in Vanya’s eyes clearly making him nervous.

“Look.” She pointed behind him. Klaus spun around and stumbled back a step.

“Holy shit.” He whispered as he stared at Ben.

“So can I get in on this excited hugging thing we’re doing or what?” he asked, pointing at them and smiling his crooked smile.

“Fuck yes you can buddy. Bring it in!” the glowing blue form of ben ran at them. They both caught him, he was cold. But it didn’t matter. He was there. And Vanya was touching him. And Klaus had done that. Klaus had brought Ben through.

“You did it.” Vanya squeezed Klaus’ shoulder.

“Told ya.” Ben said.

“Oh shut up.” Klaus snapped, but he was ginning in the sunlight shinning through the trees.

~***~

He’d finally fallen asleep when someone starts shaking him awake again.

“Nooo.” He whines and smooshes himself deeper under his covers. The shaking gets harder and he’s confused because no one is speaking. Not even the dead that have seemingly taken up residence in his bedroom. He peeks out of his blankets and sees Allison, she looks scared.

“What? What is it? Oh for- you can’t talk, alright alright I’m coming lead the way.” He throws himself out of bed and follows her down the hall. It’s takes him a minute to realize the house is shaking.

He grabs Allison’s hand, she looks at him.

“Vanya?”

Allison nods frantically and he runs past her. He almost falls down the stairs, flashbacks to his jaw being wired shut flash before his eyes and he steadies himself. He throws himself into the kitchen and finds Vanya, sitting on the table, he head in her hands, rocking back and forth, that eerie white glow filling the kitchen.

“Vanya!” he has to shout over the noise. Everything is moving. The whole house is shaking, and out the window Klaus can see the trees swaying wildly.

“Hey! What happened? Look at me Van. Tell me what happened.” He moves closer, one of the chairs at the table slides toward him and then darts to the left and slams against the wall. He keeps going. Knowing that he can help her if he can just get to her.

“Vanya?” he takes two more steps and puts his hand flat on the table. She looks at him. Her eyes are white. He smiles at her.

“Hey there. It’s kinda breezy in here, you wanna talk about it?” he moves his hand to her foot. Her hands fist in her hair and her eyes squeeze shut.

“He was in my dream! He was screaming at me!” she yells when she gets like this. Klaus is pretty sure its because of all the noise in her head. Like when you go to a concert and you can’t hear anything after, so you just yell for hours until you can hear again. He nods at her.

“Okay. Well he was a dick. So that seems right. But he’s not here. Okay? He’s gone. It’s just you and me. In the kitchen. You’re on the table, which is my spot by the way but I won’t hold it against you, and I’m on the floor, in my underwear and a shirt, because Allison was in a panic and I didn’t grab any pants.” He saw her lips twitch and the trees outside calmed a bit.

“Oh yeah, real funny, you’re having a breakdown and I’m freezing my balls off. Everybody’s having a good time.” She full on smiled at that and the trees outside stilled completely.

“There we go. You got it. Just keep breathing Van you’re doing great.” He moved his hands to her shoulders and kept looking at her. She opened her eyes again, they were still white, but she wasn’t glowing anymore.

“Hey, do you remember that time I came home blind drunk and high off my ass? And dad was there waiting and he made all you guys wait with him. And he just scowled at me. And said some shit about how disappointing I was, and that he hoped all you guys would be better. And do better and blah blah blah. And he tried to make me feel all guilty? And I just laughed at him. You remember that?” Klaus knew she did, she was smiling again.

“You- you puked on his shoes.” Her voice was strained, but she was trying so hard, Klaus could see it, she was trying to focus on him and his voice instead of the ocean of hell inside her.

“I did. But that’s not even the best part. Wanna know the best part?” he squeezed her shoulders gently, trying to ground her and drown out the noise. She nodded and looked at him, her eyes faded back to normal.

“I did it on purpose. I didn’t need to puke. We were what? 15? I’d been drinking for ages. I could hold my liquor. He was just…such an asshole. And I really wanted to ruin his day. So I puked on him.” Klaus smiled at her, his tongue poking out between his teeth. She looked at him for three seconds and then burst out laughing. The house stopped shaking. The lights faded, and Vanya drooped on the table.

Klaus crawled up next to her, holding onto her so she didn’t collapse and roll off. She was still laughing, her head shaking against Klaus’ shoulder. When she stopped laughing, she just laid there. Letting him hold her up, her energy gone. He got that.

“You’re good with her.” Klaus opened his eyes when Ben spoke, he hadn’t known he’d closed them, his brother was smiling at him.

“Thanks.” He held her tighter, his arms around her shoulders.

“Hi Ben.” Vanya’s small voice said before she fell asleep on Klaus’ shoulder. Ben waved at her, even though she was sleeping, and then he was gone. Klaus sighed, smiling to himself, he let his eyes fall closed again, resting his head on Vanya’s. The kitchen door creaked open and the others poked their heads in.

“Is she okay?” Five was rubbing his eyes like he’d just woken up, looking every ounce a thirteen year old.

“She’s alright.”

Allison lifted her notepad, “What happened?”.

“Bad dream.” Klaus moved his hand slowly over her hair.

“Is this gonna happen every time she has a bad dream?” Luther sounded worried, but he also sounded annoyed, and that was annoying and Klaus was too tired to deal with his shit.

“I don’t know Luther. I guess we’ll live and learn. Now carry her back to bed so she can get some rest.” He waved Luther forward. He took Vanya carefully, Allison held the door for him and then followed him out. Five waved sleepily and followed close behind them.

“How do you do that?” Diego was standing in the door way, looking at him. Klaus rubbed his eyes and sighed.

“Do what?”

“You calm her down. It doesn’t work when we try. Not ever.” He had his arms crossed but didn’t look angry about being woken up, he looked curious.

“Do you want the family friendly happy answer, or do you want the real answer?” Klaus rubbed at his face and watched Diego walk closer.

“I’d like the truth. But if you’re gonna be an ass about it I’ll take whatever answer I can get.” Klaus laughed and patted the table. Diego rolled his eyes and climbed up next to his brother.

“It’s because you’re all afraid of her.” He looked at Diego. Diego frowned.

“We’re not-“

“You are. And it’s okay. We’ve talked about it. She understands.” He patted Diego’s knee.

“And you’re not? Ya know, afraid of her?”

“Not so much no. I’m usually more scared _for_ her. But I think, it’s mainly because I’m not afraid to die. Ya know? That’s what it comes down to, I think. She can see the fear in your guys’ eyes when you look at her. And she can feel it inside herself. And when I think about dying all I feel is peace. So maybe it comes through.” He looked at Diego, not smiling though he wanted to, but he knew it made Diego uncomfortable when he smiled and talked about death so he resisted the urge.

“So… she can feel that peace inside you or whatever? And it calms her down? Because you aren’t afraid of death so you aren’t afraid she’ll kill you?”

This was something Klaus loved about his brother. He could ask you six different questions about something you’d said, and not one of them made you feel like he was making fun of you. Every time Diego asked a question, a genuine question, you could always tell that he was really trying to understand you.

“Pretty much yeah. And I make her laugh. Or at least I try to. It’s not always easy when she gets lost like that.” He lulled his head to the side and smiled tiredly at his brother. Diego watched him for a moment and then nodded.

“I’m glad you’re here for her. I’m glad she has you. You may be a mess, and I mean that. But you’re good with her.” He patted Klaus’ shoulder and pushed himself off the table.

“Thanks. And hey Diego?”

Diego stopped and looked back at him.

“You wouldn’t wanna carry me back upstairs would you?” He held his arms out to his brother, making grabby hands at him, giving him his best sad puppy look. Diego stared at him.

“Please?”

Diego sighed and walked back over to the table, leaning in close to Klaus.  

“I will do this once. And you will tell no one. Or I will smother you in your sleep.” He turned around and Klaus wrapped his arms around his neck and his legs around his waist.

“Best. Day. Ever.”

“It’s the middle of the night. And I can still change my mind.”

“Shutting up.”

They were halfway up the stairs when Ben popped up, he was sitting on the stair railing, smiling at them.

“That looks comfy.”

“Hush.”

“Excuse me?”

“Nothing. Sorry. I wasn’t…talking…to you.” Klaus said, grimacing through his answer. Diego stopped walking.

“Then who were you talking to?”

“I- uh…nobody.”

“Ben’s here, isn’t he?” Diego sounded annoyed.

“No! No he isn’t I swear. Just me and you.” Klaus felt Diego letting go of him, he scrambled at his shoulders but ended up on his ass on the stairs. Diego stomped the rest of the way up.

“Noo! Diego come back! I didn’t tell him! I didn’t want him here he just showed up!!! Come back! It’s so cold out here!” Klaus called after him, sitting forlornly on the stairs.

“You were warned.” Was all he got back before he heard Diego’s door shut. Klaus took a deep breath and looked at Ben.

“You enjoy this don’t you? Ruining good things for me?”

“Yep.” Was all Ben said before disappearing again.

“Asshole!” Klaus yelled to thin air and then crawled the rest of the way up the stairs and dove into bed. The voices of the dead pleasantly quiet, the house pleasantly still.

**Author's Note:**

> hello again friends!!! this one is for a pal on tumblr! we literally just started talking to day but i was inspired by our ramblings! so here is this! i hope you guys like it!!!


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